Land to be allotted in suburban Bandra for new HC building, says Maharashtra government

Bombay High Court. File Photo

The Maharashtra government on Thursday told the Bombay High Court it has decided to allot 30.16 acres of land in suburban Bandra for the construction of a new HC building.

A government resolution (order) to this effect would be issued soon, Maharashtra's Advocate General Birendra Saraf told a division bench of Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne.

Saraf said the proposed complex in the upscale suburb would also house central tribunals and chambers for lawyers. At present, the Bombay HC, one of the oldest in India, is located in south Mumbai.

The bench was hearing a petition seeking contempt action against the state government for non-compliance of a 2019 HC order on the issue of land allotment for a new building. The petitioner, Ahmed Abdi, argued that the contempt petition has been pending for the last 6 years and the state government has not taken any action on the issue yet.

Abdi claimed the state government was in contempt of the January 2019 HC order passed on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by him in 2012 seeking a new building for the High Court on a priority basis.

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The High Court had, in January 2019, directed the state government to take a decision on allotting a large parcel of land at a convenient location for the construction of a new complex.

However, the state government has completely failed and "deliberately ignored' to take steps towards implementation of the court order, the contempt plea contended.

The bench on Thursday took note of Saraf's statement and disposed of the contempt petition but said it would hear the matter for compliance on June 12.

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